The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus wherein a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material is exposed to light by an exposure means for forming an image, and to an image recording apparatus adjustment method.
Some image recording apparatuses are represented by one wherein there is provided an exposure unit which is composed of plural exposure heads each being provided with plural emission sections arrayed in the form of a single dotted line or in the form of plural dotted lines and of an exposure head holding member which holds the exposure heads, and the plural exposure heads are used to expose a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material (hereinafter referred to simply as a light-sensitive material) to light to form an image and thereby to record a color image after processing the image.
When recording a color image by the use of a plurality of exposure heads each being provided with plural emission sections arrayed in a single dotted line or in plural dotted lines, quantity of emitted light for plural emission sections is sometimes fluctuated without being constant for reasons connected with manufacturing, which makes it necessary to adjust a quantity of emitted light of each emission section in advance.
In adjustment of a quantity of emitted light of each emission section stated above, when a focus point position of an exposure head is deviated, or exposure heads are not in parallel with each other, or when a direction of arrayed emission sections in one exposure head is different from that of the other exposure head, it is sometimes impossible to obtain sharp images, or it is impossible to perfectly adjust streak defect caused by exposure, even when a quantity of emitted light of each emission section is adjusted. When adjustments of parallelism and of array are made after a quantity of emitted light is corrected, a focus point position is deviated, which sometimes makes it necessary to readjust the adjusted quantity of emitted light.